


Questions of Science

by minkhollow



Category: Cold Case, Warehouse 13
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-16
Updated: 2013-11-16
Packaged: 2018-01-01 17:45:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1046714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minkhollow/pseuds/minkhollow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’d like to know why my brother called me last night and said you’re holding him.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Questions of Science

**Author's Note:**

> Quinn had this idea a while back, and it insisted on being written.
> 
> I'm cheerfully ignoring W13's attempts at setting a timeline in place, as I can't make it add up no matter how hard I try; basing the dates on when S1 and S2 aired.
> 
> I own none of this; I'm just borrowing.

There’s a girl waiting outside the office when Lilly gets there – red hair, wearing a mishmash of casual clothes, looking every inch like some punk kid who’s two steps away from getting into trouble of her own. Still, Lilly’s been at this long enough to know appearances can be deceiving, so she says, “Can I help you?”

Much to Lilly’s surprise, the girl pulls a badge out of her pocket. “I’d like to know why my brother called me last night and said you’re holding him.”

“That depends. Who’s your brother?”

“Joshua Donovan.”

It takes Lilly a moment, but when she calls the case to mind, she nods. “He matched a visual ID on a murder we’re working and we’re having a hard time running down his alibi.”

“Okay,” the girl says with a slight frown. “Can’t picture that happening, but when did this murder happen?”

“2003.”

The girl snorts, like she’s trying not to laugh. “Now _that’s_ hilarious. First order of business, we’re from South Dakota. Before now, Joshua’s been in Philly longer than a layover exactly once, that was in 2010, and I was with him the whole time. Second, the records available to you ought to show that he was...” She trails off, clearly doing some mental math. “Eighteen at the time. Probably not that close a match to your ID.”

“Funny how you say that like he wasn’t eighteen.”

“It’s complicated, but the thing you need to know right now is that in 2003, Joshua was halfway through a twelve-year stint in an interdimensional space. Depending on how you look at it, he was either in Sioux Falls or nowhere at all. Definitely not the guy you’re looking for with this.”

It sounds outlandish on the surface – but Joshua told them the exact same thing last night. Something about a teleportation accident, Lilly thinks. Still, it sounds just crazy enough that she has to follow through. “You’re sure he wouldn’t have used that as an excuse to run out on you?”

The girl fixes Lilly with a withering look. “I was there when he disappeared, and I’m the one who rescued him. So first, if he’d busted himself out before I could, he would have told me, and second, why would he put himself back _in_ there?”

“...I concede the point. Let’s go let him out.”

The girl grins. “Thank you.”

She practically bounces into the station, and Lilly sighs, wishing she could match that level of enthusiasm. But their cold job just froze over again, with this lead officially dead.


End file.
